However, whereas it served in that tradition as the cause for moral reflection or insight, he made it instead the 'object of play and artful manipulation'. Ovid's decision to make myth the dominant subject of the Metamorphoses was influenced by the predisposition of Alexandrian poetry. but that he could still treat the myths in his own way. Ovid's relation to the Hellenistic poets was similar to the attitude of the Hellenistic poets themselves to their predecessors: he demonstrated that he had read their versions . Numerous English translations of the work have been made, the first by William Caxton in 1480. Today the Metamorphoses continues to inspire and be retold through various media. Although interest in Ovid faded after the Renaissance, there was a resurgence of attention to his work towards the end of the 20th century. Numerous episodes from the poem have been depicted in acclaimed works of sculpture, painting, and music. One of the most influential works in Western culture, the Metamorphoses has inspired such authors as Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare. Ovid took inspiration from the genre of metamorphosis poetry, and some of the Metamorphoses derives from earlier treatment of the same myths however, he diverged significantly from all of his models.

Comprising 11,995 lines, 15 books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework.Īlthough meeting the criteria for an epic, the poem defies simple genre classification by its use of varying themes and tones. The Metamorphoses ( Latin: Metamorphōsēs, from Ancient Greek: μεταμορφώσεις: 'Transformations') is an 8 AD Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Hayden White Rare Book Collection, University of California, Santa Cruz Title page of 1556 edition published by Joannes Gryphius (decorative border added subsequently).

Ovid metamorphoses 1